His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Puja Teachings – April 10, 2022

His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche ascended the Dharma throne, and expounded on “Scroll 20, ‘Immovable Tathagata Assembly’ (Chapter 6, Section 2)” of the Ratnakuta Sutra.

“Sutra: ‘Sariputra, it is like those people who are at the fruition level of srotapanna. When they have decided that they should obtain the Bodhicitta of Sravaka, they will not fall into Evil Realms after all. These Bodhisattvas are also like that. Or, from this lifetime and other lifetimes, after their lives end, they are reborn in that land of a Buddha. They are all determined that they should achieve attainment in Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhicitta (Supreme Enlightenment), and from the land of a Buddha to another such a land, in places of Buddhas, they will not constantly get far away from Supreme Enlightenment.’

These few sentences in the quote are very important. We are born in the Saha World (this solar system), and we constantly get away from Supreme Enlightenment. Why is this the way? It is just like what is mentioned in the Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha’s Fundamental Vows that ‘every thought produced by an ordinary person generates karma and vice.’ This is because that humans’ habits are all selfish, people will not consider others, therefore, once a person gives rise to a thought, it will leave Supreme Enlightenment. So long as we can be reborn in the land of a Buddha for Immovable Tathagata, we will certainly, absolutely, and surely attain accomplishment in Supreme Enlightenment.

‘From the land of a Buddha to another such a land, in places of Buddhas, they will not constantly get far away from Supreme Enlightenment.’ Even if they leave it temporarily, they will not get far away from it; the connection still exists. We will often keep us far away from it. In the sections of this sutra about Immovable Tathagata, there is a special and constant emphasis on Supreme Enlightenment. When Master Xuanzang of Tang Dynasty translated sutras, there were three types of terms that he did not translate. One of these types was when a term had many meanings and connotations, so it was not translated from Sanskrit into Chinese. The ‘Supreme Enlightenment’ is not just a term; it encompasses all the required conditions from gaining a fruition level of Mahayana to attaining the fruition of a Buddha. What are these conditions? They mean that there are no selfish thoughts for oneself at all, and all wisdom one has is not to be used to seek one’s comforts and joys in life; all things done are for sentient beings. In the sections of this sutra mentioning on Immovable Tathagata, these words have been especially emphasized: If you want to be a Bodhisattva, or become a Bodhisattva’s Dharmakaya (Dharma-body), besides having attained accomplishments in worldly bodhicitta and ultimate bodhicitta, you still need to achieve attainment in Supreme Enlightenment. Simply speaking, Supreme Enlightenment is exactly this: one’s words uttered or one’s move made is for benefiting sentient beings, let alone a thought being arisen from one’s mind. This means self-views have already not been existent deliberately, and all matters planned or handled are to focus on benefiting sentient beings.

Here is a simple example. On that golden carp in the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Monastery, I did not know about it in advance. At that time, I was in Japan. It was in daytime and I was not daydreaming. Suddenly, through my ‘heavenly eye,’ I saw a golden carp appearing in front of me, telling me very clearly where it was. This was not that I was in a dream. I made a call to Taiwan immediately and told people on the monastery project to find a place for this golden carp and help it. If there is no Supreme Enlightenment in you, sentient beings will not tell you that they need your help. It is because you will not think of their situations and you will not have the capability to help them either. You implore things for yourself all the time, so sentient beings will not pay attention to you. If they ignore you, there are nothings that can help you to accumulate merits. You constantly implore this: ‘I am making dedications to my karmic creditors.’ What is that for? Are you then to be let live a good life? Or, you will say, ‘making dedications to my cancer.’ What do you say that for? Will you not die then? All such dedications are not for Supreme Enlightenment.

For example, today there were three disciples who had shared their stories before the puja started. They did not mention many things related to the monastery construction project. One example was that once the construction site almost collapsed. They hid this happening from me and did not tell me of it. Suddenly I asked them about it and only then did they mention it. Why was it that Disciple Lin did not speak of this matter just now when sharing his story? Because they had all forgotten about it as there were so many problems on the project that I had caught. The members of the entire Monastery Affairs Team united to hide this issue from me. Only after I asked a question suddenly in a meeting with them did they mention it. Fortunately, on the day when the site almost collapsed, with blessings and protection of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, there were no construction workers at the worksite while it was flooded. If there had been workers there, then an accident would have occurred on that day. Why was the site flooded? Because its construction-supervisor was lazy. Originally, after earth had been dug up, there should have been a steel plate covering earth to protect it. In this way, even if it rained, such earth would not collapse. All the Team members had not told me this but I still knew it. Why did I know it? It was not that the Buddha and Bodhisattvas made me more amazing than these members. Rather, it was because I have achieved attainment in Supreme Enlightenment – my mind and every thought are to worry about sentient beings having accidents. However, the Team members were not concerned about these things because they felt that if there had been dead workers, their death would all have belonged to other families to handle; the accidents would not have had anything to do with members’ own families.

It was a good thing too that this incident had happened. From the start of the monastery’s construction, I have required that there should be a construction-supervisor at the site. We have especially hired a professional one, living there 24 hours a day to watch over and manage the site. Thus, your donating money for the monastery project is the simplest thing to do. What kinds of qualifications does a construction-supervisor need to sign related documents? (Disciple Lin answered: ‘The person is required to have a license in director-of-safety-of-construction-site as well as a certificate in engineer-of-quality-control. Only with these, can the person handle the qualified work in supervision and construction.’) It is not that I do not trust the construction firm. This is a very good firm. Their price quotes, judging from the current prices of building materials and supplies, will not get the firm to make money. However, because there are many workers at the site, work negligence has occurred inevitably. There is a mention in sutras that if workers skimp on materials and do a sloppy job, they will fall into hells after death. I do not intend to harm anyone to fall into hell, so on that site, workers must need supervision. Many people say that I am very strict. I am not. Rather, I know causes and effects. I do not want to create any single causal condition that will let any sentient beings fall into hells.

Cutting corners in one’s job is a very simple thing to do. This does not mean scrimping on materials will certainly make money, nor did the worker get more money for doing less work. It means it is the inertness in humans. So, in order not to let sentient beings have opportunities to fall into hells, there was a need to hire a construction-supervisor there. Then, the outcome was that even this supervisor got lazy too. After earth had been dug up, the protection of it had not been done. Many people, including my disciples or architects, hid the incident from me. Protecting that earth was a common sense. Why did they not do it? It was because there was no Supreme Enlightenment in them. They thought, ‘There are blessings and protection from Rinpoche, so no accidents will happen.’ All of you have this kind of mindset that ‘There will be no issues happening to me. I will just practice casually, and that will be fine. Rinpoche is blessing and protecting me. Rinpoche will help me “go” to the Land of Amitabha.’ Well, you need to have qualifications existing so that I will be able to help you. If you do not have the conditions required, how can I help you?

This part that I have been expounding about is very important. If you learn Buddhism for yourself continuously, then Supreme Enlightenment will be irrelevant to you forever. In this way, all you have been practicing on will have no merits. Why did Bodhidharma say that Emperor Wu of Liang had no merits? The emperor had done many more Buddhist activities than I have done. He had gotten many Buddhist temples built, had made rules that all monastics needed to eat vegetarian, and had also had many sutras translated. Did he not have much good fortune? Nevertheless, why did Bodhidharma say that the emperor had no merits? Because he had no Supreme Enlightenment in him. If one does not have it, no matter how he or she has recited the Buddha’s name or sutras or chanted mantras, there will be no merits for the person. Only if one has merits, can one transform negative karma accumulated past lifetimes, get liberated from birth and death, help sentient beings, and become a Bodhisattva or a Buddha.

Many people say that at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center, the Rinpoche there (meaning I) is very strict. There are nothings that can be done about it. What I have been doing here are what have been taught in sutras. I wish, too, that I do not need to be so harsh. Will it not be great that everyone of us lives a pleasant life? I certainly have capabilities to coax you. When I was young, my job was handling businesses. So, I can coax you to make you feel delightful but that is not the Dharma. Those things are mundane issues. If I want to teach you mundane affairs, I will just simply run my businesses diligently and that will be fine then. Why should I have been working so toilfully? Many people, including you, the so-called disciples, have misunderstood that if I have not fulfilled your desires, you will feel that I am not a good Rinpoche.

See, I have been expounding the Ratnakuta Sutra continuously; have I mentioned that Immovable Tathagata will make you strike it rich? No, I have not. In the later part of the sutra, there is an account given that your being able to listen to the sutra about Immovable Tathagata indicates that, in the past, you had seen or listened to a Buddha’s name as Immovable Tathagata. This cannot be obtained by imploring for it. Hence, those, who are unwilling to take refuge even if they are put in a situation to be beaten to death (Translator’s note: this is an analogy), are wasting their time in this life again. Why are they disinclined to take refuge? It is because they think they are intellectuals, and as such, they consider, ‘Why do I want to take refuge in you?’ In fact, I just represent Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to accept your taking refuge. I do not need you at all. What do I want you for? You will be so annoying.

Why have I been able to solve many matters when the monastery has been in the progress of being built? It is not because I am very amazing; rather, the reason is that I have the merits and good fortune. Also, building the monastery is for sentient beings, not for myself, therefore, things on the construction are running smoothly. Even when there were difficulties or obstacles, they had been transformed very naturally. Originally, I could have gotten the monastery built many years ago, but it is my personality that I do not wish to be too tired. What is to be tired about? It is not about getting too tired from the construction of the monastery, nor is it about looking for money to fund the project. Rather, it is about the arrangements I should make that, after I pass away, this monastery can be let exist. Whether it will be existent or not after my death is what the issue of being too tired is about! People’s minds change at any time; regardless of how well things have been written on or spoken of before, people will change their minds. However, perhaps His Holiness thinks that I have enough of merits and good fortune so I should have a monastery built to get my Dharma lineage being able to continue. In this way, in the area of non-ordained Rinpoches of the Drikung Kagyu Order, there will be a Dharma lineage appearing especially. Now, in the entire Drikung Kagyu Order, there is no Dharma lineage of a non-ordained Rinpoche, nor is there such a large-scale monastery being built.

His Holiness did not tell me the size – how large or how small – of the monastery to be built, nor did he mention if the addition of a retreat center is needed. All things about the monastery have been set up with my own designs and thinking. His Holiness was only listening to my presentation from the beginning to the end. Besides asking him for instructions about some rules and custom of Tibet which I do not understand, I have handled almost all the rest of the project with my own thoughts. How have these come about? It is not that I have learned these things before. I am not like these disciples of mine. One is a general manager of the company he works at, and the other one is an architect. Why have I been able to see or know many matters of the project? Because there is Supreme Enlightenment in me. After this monastery’s construction has been finished, its foremost purpose is for practicing. Thus, I am saying this one more time: In the future, the site where the monastery is will not be a tourist attraction; the number of people allowed to visit and pay homage to it is 100 at most per day.

It is mentioned in the Ratnakuta Sutra that if you can listen to the sections of this sutra about Immovable Tathagata today, it indicates that you had listened to them in your past lifetimes and only then can you listen to them in this life. If I have practiced what are in these sections but if you had not listened to them in your past lifetimes, how can you approach me now? I do not like to socialize either, like socializing with believers and major donors and arranging time and place to eat every day. I am not fond of socializing. So, why have I opened restaurants? Because I do not socialize. I can only eat at my own eating places then. If you want me to cook every day to feed myself, I cannot cook either. This is because that in my childhood, my grandmother had instructed my mother in person and said to her, ‘You cannot let this grandson of mine go into kitchen to learn cooking.’ Hence, this was where my tradition of ‘non-cooking’ came from.

Today, we need to find methods to do our practices. Do not use your methods to learn the Dharma, nor do you use your common sense or knowledge to practice, not to mention your law of life-experience. All of these are irrelevant to practicing. If Supreme Enlightenment is to be explained, it cannot be done even after all the sutras in the Buddhist Canon have been completed expounded. This term has very immense meanings and they are profound and abstruse. Only the wisdom of the Buddha can clearly expound what Supreme Enlightenment is. We, as ordinary people, can only contrive with difficulties to tell you this: It is ultimate bodhicitta. However, does this explain it very distinctly? No, this does not. What is the function of Supreme Enlightenment? The Buddha did not speak of it very clearly either. Why not? Because it is the state of attaining Buddhahood. Since everyone does not have a clear idea about the term, how do we know whether it is useful or not? If it were not, the Buddha would not have spoken of it repeatedly and continuously. From the beginning of the sections of this sutra about Immovable Tathagata, Supreme Enlightenment has appeared many times, indicating that it is something very important. As it is so important, you must need to know how to face or accept it, and cannot explain it with your minds again.

In the sections of this sutra mentioning on Immovable Tathagata, Shakyamuni Buddha taught us that we should dedicate the merits of our daily practices to Supreme Enlightenment, not to our daughters-in-law or karmic creditors. The Buddha did not speak of making dedications to your wife to get her healthy, or to your lawsuits, letting you win, et cetera. There were no such mentions; rather, the dedications were to be made to Supreme Enlightenment. If it were of no use, the Buddha would not have mentioned it. It must have been useful. As to when the effects will be produced, it depends on whether your merits have appeared or not. I have some merits shown, and of course, because of that, my Buddhist activities have been going on smoothly.

I am reminding you this again: You cannot get far away from Supreme Enlightenment. After we finish our practices every day, besides reciting the dedication prayers written in the Dharma texts, we need to add this sentence in our recitation: ‘Dedicating all the merits of this practice to Supreme Enlightenment.’ Then, sit still for a little while. This ‘sitting still’ is not ‘sitting in meditation’ or ‘entering into a meditative state.’ The so-called sitting-still is to adjust all thoughts slightly so that they will not arise. Think a bit about the merits of your practices of today, including making grand prostrations and burning a piece of incense. Dedicate all these merits to Supreme Enlightenment. It is all right to say your dedication or to think of it in your mind. After this is done, you can meditate a little. It is not important how long this will take. Once your next thought arises, you are out of the meditation. You need to do all these in your every practice. Before you do your ‘homework,’ do not rush. If you do not have time to do it, do not come here to learn Buddhism then. If you think your time is short and you need to be in a hurry, you chant mantras rapidly to complete your ‘homework’ of the day. There is no use on that.

Before you do any ‘homework,’ you need to sit down and quiet your mind, just like warmups being needed before doing any exercises. Whether you make prostrations to the Buddha, recite the Buddha’s name, or recite or chant any things, you must do this motion first. Why must we? Because our minds are too complicated. So, if we do not let ourselves quiet down a bit and then start doing our ‘homework,’ we will not know where our minds have gone to when our recitation or chanting of a mantra has been at the second or third verse of time. The recitation or chanting will be of no use then. If you do not have enough time to chant, you need to start chanting a mantra with fewer number of times required. When your chanting of it has made your ‘qi’ (flow of energy) become sufficient, quick, and stable, then you can add the number of times of the chanting to the prior number of times. Do not be greedy by increasing it to the level that you cannot handle. Now, I have transmitted this Dharma method to you; whether you will listen to the instructions or not is up to you.

Sutra: ‘At that time, Sariputra said to the Buddha again, “World Honored One, in this world, for all those who are through rebirth once and have attained the fruition level of sakrdagamin, and even for those who have abided by directions of being arhats and attained the fruition level of an arhat, they are not different from those Great Bodhisattvas born in that land of a Buddha.”’

The phrase of ‘through rebirth once and have attained the fruition level of sakrdagamin’ means coming to the world just once, and there will not be a second life for such a person. Its meaning is that so long as you ‘go’ to that land, you will be practicing continuously until you have attained the fruition level of an arhat, or a Great Bodhisattva, or even the fruition of a Buddha.

There are words of ‘even for those who have abided by directions of being arhats and attained the fruition level of an arhat’ in the quote. Some people, while they are alive, have practiced Hinayana and have also made vows to be reborn in the land of Immovable Tathagata. They can be like that too as those words indicate. It is the same for ‘those Great Bodhisattvas born in that land of a Buddha.’

Sutra: ‘The Buddha spoke to Sariputra, “Do not say these words. Why is that? In this land of a Buddha, Great Bodhisattvas are ones who have been bestowed assurance of future attainments from that Buddha. They are not different from those Bodhisattvas born in that land.”’

The Buddha told Sariputra, ‘Do not say these words.’ Why? In that land of a Buddha, Great Bodhisattvas ‘have been bestowed assurance of future attainments from that Buddha. They are not different from those Bodhisattvas born in that land of a Buddha.’ It is mentioned earlier that if good men and good women are to ‘go’ to that land, they will obtain ‘assurance of future attainments from that Buddha’ too. They will not be different from the Great Bodhisattvas who, in this life, have been bestowed assurance of future attainments, and are reborn in that land.

Sutra: ‘Furthermore, Sariputra, in this world, Bodhisattvas who sit at bodhimandas are not different from those Bodhisattvas born in that land. Why is that? All Bodhisattvas there have practiced the deeds of Tathagata.’

The Buddha mentioned especially that in that world, Bodhisattvas, who sit at bodhimandas where they transmit, teach, and expound the Dharma, ‘are not different from those Bodhisattvas born in that land.’ Why? Because ‘all Bodhisattvas there have practiced the deeds of Tathagata.’

Sutra: ‘They will not let heaven-demons have conveniences to interfere and will break away eternally from the continuity of the lands of the Two Vehicles.’

They will not have thoughts of demons in their minds, nor will they have acts of demons. It is what the phrase in the quote indicates that they ‘will break away eternally from the continuity of the lands of the Two Vehicles.’ This means exactly that they will break away forever the opportunities to continue their practices on the methods of the Two Vehicles, Sravaka and Pratyekabuddha.

Sutra: ‘From the land of a Buddha to another such a land, they can often make offerings to all Tathagatas, and will even attain the state of supreme right awareness.’

Sutra: ‘At that time, Ananda had such a thought, “I should now observe the power of the elder Subhuti’s eloquence.” After thinking of that, Ananda said to Subhuti, “We should visualize Immovable Tathagata, Sravakas and that land of a Buddha.” Then, Subhuti spoke to Ananda, “As you want to see that Tathagata, now you should also visualize above.” At that time, after Ananda had visualized above, he said to Subhuti, “I have had the utmost visualization on above, and it is all in emptiness and stillness.” Subhuti said, “That Immovable Tathagata, Sravakas and that land of a Buddha are in the same states like what you were looking above.”’

This section is very interesting. Suddenly, Venerable Ananda spoke about a lay practitioner. He observed or felt ‘the power of the elder Subhuti’s eloquence.’ When this thought arose, he said to Subhuti, ‘We should visualize Immovable Tathagata, Sravakas and that land of a Buddha.’ At that time, Subhuti spoke to Ananda, ‘If you want to see that Tathagata, you should look above.’

‘At that time, after Ananda had visualized above, he said to Subhuti, “I have had the utmost visualization on above, and it is all in emptiness and stillness.” Subhuti said, “That Immovable Tathagata, Sravakas and that land of a Buddha are in the same states like what you were looking above.”’ From this conversation, we can see that although Subhuti is an elder, through his practices, he has the fruition level of a Bodhisattva. He ‘invited’ Venerable Ananda to look above. Venerable Ananda has also achieved accomplishment in supernatural power of divine-sight. That is why he said ‘“I have had the utmost visualization on above.”’ He did not visualize with the naked eye, but with a ‘heavenly eye,’ seeing that ‘it is all in emptiness and stillness.’

What do these words, ‘it is all in emptiness and stillness’ mean? They prove that Venerable Ananda had attained realization in Emptiness, so he could visualize Emptiness, visualizing the void being in stillness. The definition of ‘stillness’ is like what is in an example that I have often mentioned. If there are no movements of planets and no satellites flying around in space, and if you are alone in it, your feeling will have been that there are no sounds or movements at all. Although there are atoms, molecules or quarks moving in space, we cannot feel them.

In the stillness of the void, there will be no objects of any kinds to be produced without causes and conditions. This means in the void, no matter what things are – sounds or phenomena – they can only be generated when there are causes and conditions. Only then can solid objects and sounds be produced. However, what Venerable Ananda visualized was stillness, and that means he had already ‘seen’ Emptiness. This is because the arising of all Dharmas is from the motions of the mind. The mind of Venerable Ananda was unmoved; then, the Dharma was not in motion. Venerable Ananda had ‘seen’ the stillness above. It is clear to us that his practices have been remarkable too.

Then, the elder Subhuti said to Venerable Ananda, ‘Immovable Tathagata, Sravakas and that land of a Buddha are in the same states like what you were looking above, and the states are of emptiness and stillness.’

Sutra: ‘At that time, Sariputra said to the Buddha, “World Honored One, it is like the Buddha has spoken of that Bodhisattvas who have obtained assurance of future attainments in this lifetime are not different from those Bodhisattvas born in that land. World Honored One, now I do not know in what they are equal.” The Buddha spoke to Sariputra, “Because they are equal in the Dharma Realm, there are no differences in them.”’

These few sentences of the quote have already talked about a very high-level direction of practices. What Ananda had visualized was not a phenomenon that ordinary people like us will want to see. It was a state of stillness. The appearance of this land of a Buddha is not because the Buddha deliberately wanted to let us see it. Rather, it is because our minds wish that we can see it, the Buddha responds to our minds, producing a phenomenon that we wish to see. If you have ‘seen’ Emptiness, you will know completely that the land of a Buddha is also Emptiness. It is just like when we practice the Simplified Version of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Ritual, we will certainly visualize Emptiness first. The reason is that all Dharmas arise and cease to exist because of causal conditions. If we do not visualize Emptiness first and if we think with the thoughts of people of the mundane world, such thoughts arisen are our consciousnesses, not Dharmas produced from causes and conditions.

The Dharmas generated from causes and conditions are natural or without deficiencies, and are not affected. However, if we use our human brains to think of any things, these thoughts will have deficiencies and affectations. From what have been described here, we can see that although Ananda has been practicing to be an arhat on the surface, he should have attained the fruition level of a Bodhisattva already because he had ‘seen,’ in person, Emptiness. This is equivalent to what I saw when I was in the retreat of 2007 – the phenomenon was Emptiness. Nevertheless, the so-called Emptiness does not mean nothingness; rather, it is a feeling of complete stillness. Whether what have been mentioned about are sentient beings in the Six Realms or the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, all of them are Emptiness, and they arise and cease to exist because of causal conditions.

If one can attain realization in Emptiness, only then can one comprehend Dharma essence, really see one’s own original essence, and truly understand what the nature of the Buddha is. In order to be able to attain realization in Emptiness, you are not to use spoken languages to explain that state, nor is your consciousness used to comprehend it. It is when all your eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and consciousness stop their functions and then when you have entered your own natural Dharma essence, you will realize Emptiness. Getting these sense-roots in your body stopping their functions is easier said than done. It is an impossible thing to happen. Thus, there is Visualization on Emptiness Mantra in the Simplified Version of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Ritual. Through the power of these verses, we hope that it will make us understand what Emptiness is, at least.

This is because that Visualization on Emptiness Mantra is not only visualizing Emptiness in the universe but also visualizing the inside and outside of ourselves, which are Emptiness as well. A physical body is unreal and is just a karmic body, which is in the law of causes and conditions. In our minds, there are hundreds and thousands of thoughts occurring every second of every day, and they are unreal too. This is also from the law of causes and conditions. So, visualizing Emptiness is to understand very clearly that one’s own karmic body and thoughts are all unreal. If one acts continuously with things unreal, one will not have the merits. Only when we know these things are unreal, can we get our visualization effective, and produce functions with Bodhisattvas who are originally in Emptiness. We will then be attuned to them. This is the so-called granting-whatever-is-requested.

If you have not attained realization in Emptiness, not comprehended it, not believed in it or have been afraid of it, you cannot be attuned to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas; that means ‘not granting whatever is requested.’ Do not think that if you chant the Great Compassion Mantra every day, you will be attuned to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. This is because the methods of deeds of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas are completely different from ours. They hear voices or sounds of sentient beings and save them from suffering. What is the suffering? It is the suffering of the ‘reincarnation’s sea of suffering’ that one clearly understands. If you have this understanding about the suffering and perceive very distinctly that all your afflictions are self-made, then Bodhisattvas will come to help you. If all you think about are to solve your own desires, Bodhisattvas will not come to give you assistances because your modes of behaviors are different from theirs.

In the prior quote, there are these few sentences that had been said by Sariputra to the Buddha: ‘Bodhisattvas who have obtained assurance of future attainments in this lifetime are not different from those Bodhisattvas born in that land. World Honored One, now I do not know in what they are equal.’ Sariputra said he did not know that between those ‘Bodhisattvas who have obtained assurance of future attainments in this lifetime’ and ‘those Bodhisattvas born in that land,’ who are at higher levels, and who are at lower levels, of accomplishments. This is exactly having a discriminating mind. You are the same. You think that a throne holder is at a higher level, and a Rinpoche is at a lower level, of achievements. That shows a mind with discrimination. Some people consider that those who ‘have been bestowed assurance of future attainments’ from the Buddha are more amazing. However, the Buddha had spoken that whether Bodhisattvas are reborn there or have been bestowed assurance of future attainments from that Buddha, all of them are Great Bodhisattvas. There are no differences in them. Nevertheless, Sariputra brought up this question on our behalf and the answer from the Buddha was very simple, as shown in the quote, ‘The Buddha spoke to Sariputra, “Because they are equal in the Dharma Realm, there are no differences in them.”’ However, explaining this to you will surely give you a headache. The Buddha told Sariputra then that for those Bodhisattvas, there are no differences in the Wisdom of the Equal Self-Nature in the Dharma Realm. It is you who have made the differentiation.

In the Dharma Realm, there are no differences in the essence of all Bodhisattvas. For all of them, so long as they have attained accomplishments of Great Bodhisattvas, their merits are the same. It is just that they will have different levels of vows, but on their merits, there are no differences. Hence, the Buddha had said, ‘Because they are equal in the Dharma Realm, there are no differences in them.’ This indicates that Sariputra has also mastered his practices to this level in that two sentences from the Buddha were enough for Sariputra to understand. If you were the ones to be spoken to on this subject, how many sentences were needed to explain? Well, one will not know.

Thus, the key point here is that the Buddha told Sariputra, and telling smart people like you too, not to have a discriminating mind. Do not consider what this person is, what that one is, or thinking about someone having conducted retreats for decades. You are not to check how many years or how many times a person has conducted retreats, nor do you judge how many lifetimes this person has been reincarnated. Rather, you are to see what such a person has done in this lifetime, and that is a more important thing for you to think. What had happened in his or her past lifetimes were just records. They do not represent that if same circumstances have occurred in this lifetime, those things will certainly be handled in exactly same ways. So, the most important thing regarding this person is about what have been shown on deeds that he or she has done in this lifetime.

Shakyamuni Buddha had spoken very clearly that in the land of a Buddha for Immovable Tathagata, for Bodhisattvas, who have practiced continuously from the land of ordinary people and mastered their practices to the level of Great Bodhisattvas, and for those Bodhisattvas, who have made vows to be reborn in that land, both have same fruition levels; there are no differences in them. If it were us humans, we would make the differentiation. We would think that those who have followed Immovable Tathagata should have practiced more amazingly because they have been bestowed assurance of future attainments from that Buddha. As for those who have come to that land from other places, they are not originally from that land and are not disciples of Immovable Tathagata either. Then, we would consider they are certainly a little less accomplished. However, the Buddha reminded us that there are no differences between these two types of Bodhisattvas because in the Dharma Realm, they are equal with no differences. It is you who have made the differentiation with your karma and afflictions. In the Dharma Realm, all are equal. ‘Being equal’ means there is no ‘arising and ceasing to exist.’ All practices in the Dharma are the same. There is no such thinking as ‘this person practices well’ or ‘that person does not practice well.’ The Dharma essence is the same. So are pure, original essence and nature of the Buddha. It is just that the karma of our accumulated past lifetimes makes us produce different fruition levels.

It is just like the situation here now that there are more than 500 people sitting there. All of them are the same, having human genes. Why does every one of them have a different appearance, voice, or thickness of hair? Such differences come precisely from our discriminating minds through lifetime after lifetime. When we look at a statue of a Bodhisattva, what kinds of methods do we use to distinguish whether it is the statue of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara or of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra? Besides the mudra (a gesture formed with hands and fingers) shown, we will look at the Dharma instrument held on the statue. This is because all Buddha statues are the same in terms of their having 32 forms and 80 physical characteristics. Then, how do we distinguish such statues among them? For example, mudras formed by Shakyamuni Buddha are different from those by Amitabha. Hence, we can see the difference in their statues by the mudra shown. However, both Buddhas are equal in the Dharma Realm with no differences. It is just that their vows are different.

As their vows are different, there are different Dharma instruments and mudras appearing on them. Nevertheless, this does not represent that Shakyamuni Buddha is at a higher level of attainments, as He is the Buddha of the earth, and Amitabha is at a lower level of them, as he is located at a more distant place from us without being seen. All of these are differentiated by us humans. This section of the sutra shows, in fact, that Sariputra and Shakyamuni Buddha were specifically breaking the myths for Buddhist practitioners like us in the Age of Dharma Decline. The Buddha had said, ‘Rely on the Dharma, not the person.’ This means we are to see if Dharma methods that a practitioner has transmitted to us can help us get liberated from birth and death. If the methods cannot, no matter what fruition level this practitioner is at, such transmissions are of no use.

At present, all believers are doing the opposite of that saying which has just been mentioned. They ‘rely on the person, not the Dharma.’ When hearing this, some of you in the audience now will be thinking, ‘Well, I will not rely on my guru; I will rely on myself.’ However, before you have learned the methods needed, you have decided not to rely on your guru. Whom will you rely on then? In other words, you have not learned the Dharma methods yet to get you liberated from birth and death. Then, if you do not want to rely on your guru, whom are you going to rely on? On yourself? It is an impossible thing to do. All your thoughts generate karma and vices. The Buddha had said, ‘Rely on the Dharma, not the person. Rely on meanings, not words. Rely on revelation of whole truth, not revelation of partial truth.’ These words tell us the definition of how we are to listen to the Dharma.

On that quote from the sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha told Sariputra not to have a discriminating mind. In the land of Immovable Tathagata, so long as those in there have the fruition level of a Bodhisattva, there are no differences in them, whether they have been bestowed assurance of future attainments from that Buddha or not. This is very important. For example, just now, some disciples were mentioning cherry trees. If they thought termites and insects are so small, and it was all right to kill them, then these people had a discriminating mind. Many people have leukemia, and it is because that they have killed many insects. I have seen many such cases. One example is about gardeners. Because they will use pesticide spraying the area for their work, many insects have certainly been killed. It is very easy for such gardeners to get leukemia, the so-called blood cancers.

Originally, human blood has constantly been flowing in one’s body. Why will such blood become cancers suddenly? What are the sayings on this from the perspective of medical science? (A doctor-disciple of western medicine indicated that it is because in cells, there are transformations or changes.) Why will cells in one’s own body be changed from good to problematic? (The answer from the doctor: ‘There are no medical theories that can really explain it.’) Thus, can medical science surely save lives? No one knows about that.

However, if this has been inferred from the principles of cause and effect in the Dharma, the changes of things that have occurred in a human body are relevant, absolutely, to one’s own karma and good fortune. One will get old or get sick and this is also related to oneself. If a person recovers from an illness, that is not because the person has seen, or been treated by, a right physician. I have expounded to you before that if you have good fortune, and even if you have found a quack doctor, he or she will cure your illness. On the contrary, if you do not have good fortune, and even if you have found a great physician, who is famous and is known nationally, you will not be cured of your illness. Before we have achieved the attainment in Supreme Enlightenment, we are living our lives in our own karma.

Your karma, whether it is good or negative, will affect you absolutely. Your discriminating mind on good karma or negative one is very subtle. We, as ordinary people, usually judge the good and the negative according to laws and so-called ethics, morals and custom. So, the Buddha had spoken of before that the custom prevalent in some places are not necessarily right; there may be causes and effects in it. Things said and thought of by people as being right are not necessarily right; things expressed and thought of by people as being wrong are not necessarily wrong. We need to look at things from the aspects of karma. Hence, Buddhist practitioners certainly do not judge or analyze things from the viewpoint of gain and loss in benefits. Rather, practitioners look at things from the angles of karma and its retributions, and if they understand this, they will naturally handle things very prudently; they will not commit or create any good or negative karma.

If you are a disciple, your guru will have opportunities to remind you this, surely. If you have not taken refuge in a guru, you will not be reminded as there are no affinities between the guru and you. It is like that today there is a student who has not registered to study in a school; teachers there will assuredly not teach the student because he or she has not paid the tuition. Nevertheless, in Buddhism, the relation between a guru and a disciple is not about money; rather, it is about whether this person wants to learn Buddhism or not. If the person wants to, then the relation between a guru and a disciple is established. After this, as the guru’s vows are continuously to help sentient beings getting liberated from birth and death and get away from the sea of suffering, the guru, in his or her remaining life while still alive, will remind disciples unceasingly what they need to be prudent about, what things they can do or cannot act on.
初稿：If you take refuge as a disciple, the guru will definitely have a chance to remind you; if you have not taken refuge, you will not be reminded, because there is no course and condition. Just like there is a student who has not registered in the school today, and the teacher will definitely not teach him because he has not paid yet. However, the relationship between a Buddhist Guru and disciple is not based on money, it is based on if the disciple wants to learn Buddhism. If he is, the relationship between guru and disciple is established. After it is established, the guru’s vow is to help all sentient beings liberating from the cycle of birth and death and the sea of suffering. In his lifetime, as long as he is still alive, he will constantly remind you what to be cautious about, what you can do and what you cannot do.

If there is not a refuge being taken, it does not mean the guru has a discriminating mind. It is because that there are no causes and conditions existed, as what is mentioned in English, ‘without connection.’ You will say that you have come here every Sunday to listen to my expounding of the Dharma. However, if you have not participated in the ritual of taking refuge, you have not taken refuge yet. You will not take refuge in me, but in the Buddha, the Dharma and Sangha. You must go through this ritual. If you think your coming here to learn Buddhism is the same as taking refuge, then you are wrong. Unless there are no accomplished practitioners or monastics, who do not observe precepts, within a radius of 500 lis (Translator’s note: Li is the Chinese mile, about one third of an English mile), you can take refuge in a Buddha statue. Nevertheless, if there are such practitioners or monastics within that radius, you need to take refuge in the usual way. This is what has been mentioned in sutras, and is not said by me. Thus, do not find excuses and say that you want to do your practices at home by yourself. If you do not have a guru to teach you, will you be able to master your practices? Even if you have been practicing until you have lost your hair and become bald, you will not achieve accomplishments!”

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Updated on June 7, 2023